With the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme having been introduced in April 2007 to “enable landlords and agents to comply with the law”; new information has come to light demonstrating the benefits of greater communication between landlords and tenants.
The research presented by my|deposits (the company appointed by the government with the task of operating the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme in ’07) have shown that due to greater communication between landlords and tenants fewer disputes have proceeded to a formal Alternative Dispute Resolution judgment by the scheme, in fact in the last year alone 30.1% of notified disputes did not lead to adjudication. According to my|deposits’ Legal Services Manager, Tim Frome, this can be accredited to the fact that more landlords and tenants have communicated with each other prior to filling a dispute. Frome states, “Whenever we receive notification form the tenant of a potential dispute we always recommend they speak to the landlord first”, he goes on to add that, “It’s always worth trying to negotiate as using the Scheme’s formal dispute resolution process can take time.”
Frome also took the time to remind landlords that legally the deposit money is the tenant’s and thus, “If the tenant doesn’t agree with your deductions then they have the right to raise a formal dispute with their deposit scheme to reclaim the deposit money.”
The figures correspond to the new guide released by my|deposits, named ‘Negotiating with your Tenants’, written by its very own Legal Services Manager, Frome aims to offer the best advice to landlords when negotiating deposits with tenants. Also on the website is a helpful guide aptly named “The do’s and don’ts of negotiating with your tenant”. So if your landlord is refusing to hand over your money or if your tenant has been a destructive mess and is refusing to co-operate, remember to keep calm and negotiate, for more information see www.mydeposits.co.uk
